Secret Garden
by mad4merder
Summary: An AU, MerDer College Fic: Bringing the bottle to her lips she took a sip, relishing the familiar burn as it stung down her throat. She loved this song and she certainly loved her tequila. In the library, he sat alone. He looked at the pile of books and sighed, knowing very well he would be unable to get through them tonight with such an incessant distraction.
1. Chapter 1

**Title: **Secret Garden

**Rating: **T

**Characters: **Meredith/Derek

**Genre: **Romance/Drama

**Disclaimer: **Grey's Anatomy isn't mine and neither are the characters… Unless of course, Shonda would like to give them to me? In which case, I promise to take good care of them!

**Chapter 1**

Her dark blonde hair tangled in the wind as she swayed to the music. With a bottle of tequila in her hand, she shut her eyes. She loved this song. Bringing the bottle to her lips she took a sip, relishing the familiar burn as it stung down her throat. She loved this song and she certainly loved her tequila.

She heard someone call her name and she hurried over to her best friend. The wind was howling tonight and she shivered as the cool air hit her exposed midriff. Maybe wearing such a skimpy top had been a bad idea, she thought. Brushing that idea out her head immediately, she smiled to herself. She looked hot tonight and that was all that really mattered.

"We got a bet, Mer," her best friend Cristina slurred. "I told these stupid boys you could down that entire bottle in under thirty seconds. They think I'm joking."

Meredith laughed, "She never jokes, I'm telling you," she said drunkenly.

"Prove us wrong babe," an athletic looking guy responded.

Meredith thought about it for a second, her hair blowing around her face.

"What do I get outta it?" she mumbled.

"Another bottle of tequila, of course!" said one of the guys she recognized from the school's ever so popular football team.

Pushing her messy hair from her face, she spoke. "You're on," the tiny blonde assured them before bringing the bottle up to her lips once more.

* * *

The loud music blared from across campus making it virtually impossible to concentrate on anything else. In the library, he sat alone. He looked at the pile of books and sighed, knowing very well he would be unable to get through them tonight with such an incessant distraction.

He'd been reading about magnetic resonance spectroscopy of neurotransmitters in the human brain and he was sure he was taking in none of it as the repetitive beats from outside bounced throughout the walls of the lonely room. Undoubtedly someone had probably just completed a very successful keg stand as loud cheering was heard

"Congratulations," he muttered sarcastically under his breath. He had an exam tomorrow, a very important exam. Derek was guessing half the people at school had exams and yet it seemed they were still out there drinking the night away. It was only a couple of days till they got a week off for Thanksgiving. You'd think people would be able to wait a couple of days until exams were over before drinking their brain cells away, but no. Derek was only further reminded of this when the chanting of the word "skull, skull, skull," echoed across the campus.

He slammed his book shut. He'd been reading the same sentence for the past five minutes; he was that distracted. It was pointless trying to get anything done now so with frustration Derek quickly packed his books into his backpack and left, hoping that maybe it would be quieter back in his room.

* * *

There was a special place in hell for professors who thought it necessary to give exams right before Thanksgiving break. That was what Meredith was thinking as she woke up the next morning. She'd had a mere three hours sleep and had still woken up late. She initially couldn't quite remember how she even made it to bed, but she was at least glad to have woken up in her own. After a few moments she could hazily recall Cristina and herself stumbling back to their room. Despite needing to be at her exam in exactly twenty-two minutes, Meredith was determined not to go to class smelling like tequila and stale beer, so she quickly jumped in the shower.

"Eleven minutes," she heard Cristina call over the running water. Cristina's last exam had been yesterday and Meredith hated her just a little bit for that.

Grabbing the first articles of clothing she could find, she ended up looking a mess in her ratty, little Dartmouth shirt and shorts that some would possibly deem too distracting for a learning environment.

"Fantastic," she mumbled under her breath, hopping on one leg as she tried to get her shoes on without falling over. She was perhaps, still a little drunk.

"Seven minutes," Cristina informed with somewhat amusement, knowing very well that she could stay in bed all day. "You see this is why neuroscience sucks."

Meredith quickly threw her bag over her shoulder and bolted for the door, not before promptly telling her roommate to 'shut up.' Meredith was lucky that she lived in such a central location on campus; she was close to all her classes. However today, today she wasn't quite lucky enough. Upon reaching her class, the door was locked shut.

"Shit," she mumbled quietly to herself as she pushed on the door. "Shit!" she said louder as the seriousness of the situation sunk in. She was locked out of her exam. She was going to miss her exam and fail. "This isn't happening." Bashing her fists in anger against the door once more, it remained closed. "Shit, shit, shit," she repeated to herself. She had to shut her eyes in an attempt to stop her from crying and Meredith Grey was never one to cry.

Derek had walked out of his exam with a smile on his face. Despite not getting as much study as he'd hoped the night before, he knew he'd aced his in-class essay on _Neurotransmitters and Their Receptors_. He'd left the building and was on his way to the coffee stand when someone caught his eye. Out the front of a lecture hall where he'd had classes in his first year, was a girl slamming her fists on the door. Her hair was dripping wet, leaving a wet patch down the back of her old shirt. He wondered if she was aware that she was also wearing two different shoes? He wasn't sure what it was about the obviously entirely disorganized, unfortunate student that drew him towards her, but before he knew it he had approached her.

"This might surprise you but in some cultures people actually try using the handle to open doors," he began jokingly. "You know, before slamming their tiny, ineffectual fists against metal."

Meredith looked up, pressing her lips together in anger. "Are you kidding me?" her angry voice was only slightly louder than she intended it to be. "Are you freaking kidding me?"

Taken aback, the stranger's eyes widened. Even in Meredith's state of anger she couldn't help but notice that they were quite a mesmerizing shade of blue.

"Look, I'm sorry… I was just kidding," he said hesitantly. That really hadn't gone over how he had intended it to.

However mesmerizing his eyes were it didn't stop Meredith from continuing her previous freak out. "I've missed my exam. I've missed the one freaking exam I actually wanted to pass and now I'm going to fail. Mom was right, I really can't do this! I'm stupid, I really am," she began to ramble as she shook her head.

At this point Derek wasn't sure whether she was talking to him or herself, but either way he was going to stick around to find out.

"I'm seriously going to fail, all because I missed this one exam. Can you believe that? It doesn't really matter if you can or you can't because it's the truth and all because I listened to Cristina and went to the party and now…" her voice trailed off as she looked to the ground. "And now, I'm wearing mismatched shoes. Fantastic, fucking fantastic."

Derek couldn't take his eyes off the rambling blonde. He'd never heard so many words come out of someone's mouth in such few seconds and he had grown up with four sisters, so that certainly said a lot.

Meredith looked up to the man in front of her and let out a sigh. He was staring at her with a look of utter bewilderment and Meredith suddenly felt really embarrassed. "You think I'm crazy, don't you?" She asked when he continued to stare at her in silence.

"No, I was just making sure you were finished," he said as a slight smirk cornered on his lips.

Meredith nodded slightly; suddenly very aware that she was standing in front of this good-looking guy while her hair was probably causing a puddle to form at her feet and a shirt that had a noticeable hole in it. "I am, I'm finished," she confirmed with a nod.

Derek smiled and Meredith now just felt embarrassed. He had a really nice smile and she'd just stood in front of him for God knows how long and rambled on about her failure. They both stood there for a moment, neither making any attempt to move until someone broke their gaze.

"Shepherd," a deep familiar voice exclaimed. They both turned to see the professor walking up the stairs. Meredith's eyes grew wide as she noticed that he was carrying a stack of what looked to be exam papers.

"Doctor Price," Derek returned with a smile. He'd been his neuroscience professor back in first year and still remained as his favorite teacher.

"You're nice and early, Grey," the elderly man commented as he walked past them and fumbled with his keys.

Meredith stood there shocked. Early? She was early?

The door opened with a click and Price walked in.

"You're early," Derek stated unable to hide the look of amusement that spread across his features.

"I'm early," the blonde repeated letting out an audible sigh of relief.

"Well, I guess you probably feel a little embarrassed now," he said with a smirk.

Meredith couldn't help but laugh, "Yeah, I do actually."

Derek's smirk immediately turned into a grin upon hearing the giggle that passed from the rambling blonde's lips. It was probably the cutest sound he'd ever heard.

"I could have sworn my exam was at nine… I'm blaming tequila," she spoke and again he was unsure if she was actually talking to him or just herself again.

"Tequila, hey? So I'm guessing you were a part of the rambunctious group of individuals that kept me up half the night. I had an exam this morning, you know?" he spoke in serious tone, though the grin on his face was very contradictory.

There she went with that infectious giggle again and Derek didn't want to walk away.

"Sorry about that," she replied with a smile.

They both stood there for a few moments, neither saying a word. It wasn't until people started pushing past them to get into class that Meredith spoke, "I should go before I actually miss this exam."

"You definitely should do that," he said with a nod, unable to wipe the smile from his face.

"So umm… Goodbye…" Had he mentioned his name somewhere in between her incoherent rambling?

"Derek," he finished for her.

"Derek, right," she repeated and instantly, he liked the way his name sounded coming from her lips. "Meredith," she told him as she accepted the hand he extended in front of himself.

"Meredith," he said again, noticing that she was blushing slightly. "Nice meeting you."

"Bye Derek," she said letting out the faintest of giggles before turning and entering the now busy exam room.

Meredith hurried to find a seat, trying to get the red that had flushed her cheeks to subside. She never blushed and she usually wasn't as tongue-tied as she'd found herself out there. Maybe it had been because she was freaking out about her "missed" exam or maybe it was because he had one of the most gorgeous smiles she had ever seen? Whatever the reason, she had to stop thinking about him because she had an exam to pass.

Derek stood there for a moment, replaying the conversation he had just had with Meredith over in his head. He instantly liked her. She'd looked like she was about to rip his head off when he'd made that smart-ass remark and then all of a sudden she'd been rambling about exams and mismatched shoes. She was awkward in a way that made her cute and intriguing and Derek couldn't help but want to get to know her.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"I met a girl today," Derek explained as they walked down the concrete pathway.

"You met a girl? _You_ met a _girl_," his roommate replied with mock amazement.

Derek had promised his roommate Mark a week ago that he would go to a party being held tonight and despite, his protesting he'd actually decided to come. Mark had been trying to get him to put down the books for just one night for some time now. Ever since Derek had broken up with his last girlfriend Addison at the start of the year, he'd thrown himself into his studies and he hadn't been out in months. Tonight though, he'd had no valid excuse, what with kicking his exam's ass this morning.

"I did," he said with a nod. Pushing his hands into his pockets, he smiled. "She was very…" he paused trying to think of a way to describe the girl he'd met this morning. Her rambling had been adorably amusing and her mismatching shoes had only added to her cuteness. He'd immediately thought she was beautiful; with no makeup and her wet hair tossed in a very messy looking ponytail. He wanted to tell his best friend that but knowing he would either respond by calling him a sap or asking if he'd slept with her, he went with "different."

"Different?" Mark answered with a raised eyebrow. "Like in bed?"

Derek looked at his friend and shook his head with a chuckle, "How you bring everything back to sex, I'll never know."

"Oh, you know everything I bring back for-"

"You're an idiot," Derek cut him off. His roommate was certainly an idiot, but he was his best friend regardless of that. Walking ahead of Mark, they were almost at the party. The type of music he hated could already be heard and Derek was only reminded of how much he didn't want to go to this thing. He could've been back at his place, getting a head start on the work they'd be doing in the upcoming weeks, but no- he was instead going to be surrounded by a bunch of brainless morons who thought it worthwhile to spend the equivalent of tuition money on kegs and then hangover cures.

"Wait up, Shep! I'm kidding, I'm kidding," he told him as he jogged to catch up to his roommate who had quickly paced ahead of him. "What's her name?" Mark asked as they walked into the crowded party.

Derek had to shout over the noise as they squeezed through the crowd, "Her name is-"

Derek stopped.

"Mer-e-dith, Mer-e-dith, Mer-e-dith," A group of guys that Derek knew he wouldn't get a long with chanted.

On a table stood the girl he had met this morning. Standing beside several other girls, it looked as though she was participating in some sort of drinking competition and by the sounds of it, winning.

"Hot," he heard his best friend say under his breath.

Derek looked to Mark who somehow already had a drink in his hand and was looking Meredith up and down.

"What did you say her name was?" he asked again, his eyes never diverting from the girls in front of them.

Derek shook his head, "Never mind."

He looked at Meredith once more. Her ratty, little shirt that she had looked so good in was replaced with one of those tops that tied up around the neck and managed to not only show her belly button but also incredible cleavage. She still wore shorts that made her legs stretch for miles but on her feet were instead shoes that were so high, Derek wondered how in the hell she'd even managed to get on a table without falling off.

So this was who she was then? A freshman that dressed in clothes like that. The type of girl who was motivated to participate in drinking games all while a football team of guys cheered her on. He'd been wrong; she wasn't different at all.

With that Derek, turned his back and walked away unsure of why he had suddenly felt his stomach drop.

* * *

Meredith was happy and it wasn't just because she had a bottle of tequila in her hands. She'd done well this morning and she was actually proud of herself. That wasn't something she felt a whole lot and so she was enjoying the moment. She felt the room spinning slightly, though that only made her feel more alive. She loved the way her tequila made her feel, despite always having a different opinion in the morning. She'd forget about all the things she worried about and just live for the moment. It was what she needed at this point.

She'd hopped off from the table, her steps a little wobbly. Looking around she noticed how many people were there, she didn't recognize most of them and thought the majority looked like seniors. She was stuck in the middle of a group of people dancing and Meredith had to go onto her tippy toes in an attempt to look for Cristina. After a few moments, she spotted her. Pressed up in the corner of the room, with some guy standing beside her, Cristina certainly looked like she was having a good time. Meredith suddenly felt a little dizzy and she quickly weaved her way through the sweaty bodies in an effort to find some fresh air.

There were a few groups of people scattered across the lawn, though it was considerably quieter outside in the cool air. Meredith took a deep breath and looked around. She stood there for a few minutes, her arms crossed over her chest before deciding to go for a little walk. She shivered in the cold, though her cheeks felt hot and clammy. She'd spent a good deal of time curling her hair nicely for tonight and she was a little annoyed that the wind was now ruining it.

She walked around the side of the building and was surprised at who she saw. Sitting on the edge of a step, with a beer cradled in his hands in front of him was Derek. She found herself smiling immediately.

"Derek!" she exclaimed sounding a little more excited than she would have considered 'cool.'

He looked up and raised his drink slightly, giving her a slight nod.

"You know the party is inside, right?" Meredith smiled, feeling pretty pleased that she could construct an understandable sentence despite having consumed the amount of tequila that she had. The girl could hold her liquor, that was for sure.

Derek didn't look up and Meredith wondered what was the matter.

"Are you okay?" the younger woman said, pushing her hair back behind her ears.

"Fine," Derek responded sharply, taking a sip of his beer.

Meredith looked confused. He'd liked her this morning, hadn't he? She'd gotten that impression from him, at least and now he wasn't even looking at her.

"Are you?" he asked her, looking up. His eyes were an icy blue and Meredith was sure she could see a look of disappointment in them, though she had no idea why.

Derek looked at her once more, dressed in her skimpy attire he wondered what he had seen in her earlier. She was so not his type. In fact, she pretty much looked the opposite of all the girls he had dated in the past. Still, he was unable to deny the fact that despite the tacky heels and top, she was hot. Yeah, she looked sexy, that was a given. But she no longer seemed to have that cute, awkwardness to her that Derek had found so appealing that morning.

He saw the look of confusion flash across her features and she nodded her head, "I'm fine," she repeated.

"You look cold," he stated noticing that her arms were crossed in front of her.

"I am," she said quietly, keeping her arms wrapped close over her stomach.

Derek couldn't hold back the sneer that escaped his lips and Meredith's brows furrowed. Of course she was cold. Dressed like that, he'd be surprised if she was anything but.

"Well… Like you said, the party is inside," his words were sharp and painful.

Meredith felt her jaw drop slightly. Derek was not the type of guy she'd had him pegged for.

"Excuse me?" Meredith answered, her voice starting to convey the same hostility as the man in front of her.

Derek shrugged his shoulders and took another sip of his drink.

"Nothing, just that you looked like you were having a pretty good time in there," he responded bitterly.

Meredith literally couldn't believe he was speaking to her like this. Who was he to judge?

Derek was fully aware that he sounded like an ass but he didn't care. Unlike half the people at this school, he'd actually gotten in due to hard work and dedication. He was sure that the majority of students who spent their time dancing on tables and then showing up to class late were the ones who got in due to the money their parents had, not the scores they achieved on their admission tests. Meredith was probably just another one of those over privileged students who had completely different goals than he had.

"What the hell is your problem?" she bit back at him.

Derek stood up, standing close to the blonde in front of him. She no longer had her arms in front of her, but instead her hands were in fists by her side.

"I know your type, Meredith," he stated bitterly. He too had probably had one too many drinks.

"You don't know anything about me," Meredith responded looking up at the man in front of him. He was too close for her liking.

Derek made that stupid scoffing sound again and Meredith wanted to hit him.

"And you certainly have no right to judge me," she told him sternly.

Derek did know that, he really did. But there was something about her that made him boil inside and just plain angry. Whether it was the fact that she dressed like that, basically encouraging guys to treat her like crap or the fact that he'd felt sick to his stomach upon seeing how the guys looked at her when she stood up on that table in front of them. Either way, he didn't like the way she acted and for some reason, it had upset him.

He didn't reply, never taking his eyes off the feisty blonde in front of him. She was tough, he could tell that instantly and he immediately felt a pang of guilt spread over him. He didn't know her, not at all and he'd been a jerk.

"You're no better than me," she said, her voice had dropped a level though she still spoke convincingly. And with that, she turned on her heels and walked away, picking up the bottle of tequila she had left by the door and reentering the party, ready to find someone who wasn't going to treat her like shit, even if it was for only a night.

* * *

**Author's note:** So how do you all like it so far? Reviews will always be appreciated! :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: **Thank you to those who have reviewed, it absolutely makes my day to read your comments! Hope to hear from some of you alerters/favoriters with this chapter :P I also hope everyone has a very merry Christmas!

**Chapter 3**

"I hate him Cristina, I hate him," Meredith ranted for about the sixteenth time in the last five minutes.

Meredith laid on her bed, staring at the ceiling as her roommate sat on hers, a book in hand.

"Ok," Cristina replied nonchalantly. She'd zoned out of this conversation long ago.

"He just thinks he's so much better than me, he doesn't even know me!" she continued. "I bet he thinks he's a freaking saint and you know what, he's not even that good looking, really. He's not," Meredith said, hoping that if she said it out loud maybe she would convince herself into believing it.

Cristina turned a page, "Sure, sure that's how you feel." Her unconvincing reply was less than persuasive.

Meredith turned on her side, propping her head up on her hand to face Cristina.

"Of course that's how I feel, he's an ass!" she responded sharply. "He's the one with the problems, not me. I bet he sits alone every night; he probably doesn't even have friends. I have fun, at least. I mean, so what if I like to party?"

"So what," Cristina spoke without lifting her head from the book.

This conversation had been going on non-stop for two days and it had quickly become tiresome. Cristina was just glad she would be going home over Thanksgiving. Hopefully, by the time she was back Meredith would have shut up about this guy.

"At least, I'm not a loner. Who cares if I like drinking? I know how to have a good time, unlike him. Stupid boys."

Cristina let out a frustrated sigh and put her book down, turning her attention over to her best friend.

"You want to know what I think?" she said sitting on the edge of the bed.

Meredith sat up and crossed her legs, glad to hear Cristina's opinion on Derek-the-ass. Cristina never held back with her avid descriptions about the people they didn't get along with and Meredith couldn't wait to hear someone else criticize the one guy she had been talking about till her mouth went dry.

"What?" Meredith responded eagerly.

"You like him."

Meredith's jaw dropped open, "I do not. Have you not heard a single thing I've been saying?"

"Painfully, yes."

"You're wrong," the blonde said as she fell back on the bed, once again staring at the ceiling above her.

"Look, Mer," Cristina began after letting out another audible sigh. "I've never heard you speak about one guy for so long and I've seen some of the guys you've done the dirty with and they were _fine. _I'm talking cream of the crop, delicious, sexy-"

"Hey!" Meredith cut her off.

"Point is, you didn't even talk about those guys this much. So I think you know what needs to be done here," Cristina said with raised eyebrows and a nod.

Meredith sat up again, "What?"

"You need to get it out of your system and sleep with him already," Cristina teased with a laugh.

Meredith grabbed her pillow and threw it across the room, hitting Cristina square in the face. Unfortunately, it only stopped her laughing for a second.

"It's not funny," Meredith told her flopping back down on the bed.

"It's a little bit funny. You have a big, fat crush on him."

"There is no crush," she said quietly.

Meredith felt a sense of uneasiness nestle inside of her as her stomach did a flip-flop. Cristina couldn't be right, could she? She had no idea why she would feel that way about Derek, but she couldn't deny that there was a tiny feeling in her chest that made her think, that for whatever reason, she did.

* * *

Derek couldn't get her out of his head.

He normally considered himself to be a friendly person. Maybe a little quick to judge, but he would never have normally acted on his thoughts as he had done two nights ago. Derek Shepherd thought of himself as a nice guy, but after the way he'd spoken to Meredith- a seemingly nice girl that he barely knew, he was beginning to question otherwise. He wasn't sure what had come over him but he hadn't liked what he had done and had been struck with guilt ever since. Why he'd spoken to her the way he had, he wasn't sure. All he knew was that when he'd met her, he liked her and now, he'd completely fucked up.

"Would you stop moping around the place?" Mark complained. "It's depressing."

"I'm not moping," Derek retorted sharply.

"You're definitely moping and it's pathetic. I don't know why you don't just ask this girl out, you're obviously hung up about her."

Derek hadn't told him about the other night and so Mark was left unaware that it wouldn't be as easy as just asking her out.

"It's complicated," he mumbled.

"Whatever man, you just need to get laid. It's getting sad," Mark chuckled before Derek left the room.

Headed to the library, Derek was convinced that the only way to stop thinking about Meredith was to use studying as a distraction. It was something he was good at and despite how geeky he knew it seemed, it had a way of relaxing him. Minutes had easily stretched into hours and Derek was feeling pleased with himself. He hadn't let thoughts of the pretty, blonde enter his head for some time now and he planned on keeping it that way. Getting up from the table he had been sitting at he began to walk the aisles. His legs had started to cramp and his fingers had become sore from typing, making it clear that he needed a break.

The library was basically empty, many students had undoubtedly already left for Thanksgiving. Derek wasn't heading home till the following afternoon and with classes over for the week, he was going to have a lot of time on his hands.

"Derek."

Derek immediately turned as the familiar voice spoke his name. In the far back corner of the library sat Meredith. A pen and paper in her hand and a pile of books beside her, it was a sight that he hadn't expected to see.

She wasn't sure why she had called his name; he was the last person she actually wanted to see. She probably would have gone unnoticed had it not been for her big mouth, but she had gone and called his name.

'Stupid, stupid,' she thought to herself.

"Hi," he approached her hesitantly. The last time he'd seen her she had wanted to bite his head off and even now, she did not look happy to have seen him. "I didn't expect to see you here," he said quietly, now unsure of what to say to her.

Meredith's lips pressed together with frustration, he made her so angry.

"I'll bet," she spoke sharply. "I _can_ read, you know? I party and I manage good grades, it's a real phenomenon," Meredith bit back sarcastically.

"I hadn't meant it like that. I just didn't realize there was anyone else here but sure, okay. I deserve that," Derek said with a nod.

Meredith looked away from him.

Derek opened his mouth to say something but quickly decided against it. He wanted to apologize to her, tell her that he didn't know what had come over him but instead he asked what she was doing here.

"Extra credit," she replied, putting her head down and pretending to read.

He had certainly misjudged her and as he watched her eyes scan the page in front of her, with her messy hair tousled beside her cheeks, she once again possessed that adorable quality that had attracted him in the first place.

"I'm sure that surprises you, that tequila hasn't completely rotted away my brain," she muttered under her breath, refusing to lift her eyes from the page in front of her.

Derek sighed, running his hand through his hair as he looked to the floor. He had obviously upset her and while she had no reason to forgive him, he at least wanted her to know that he was regretting what he had said.

"About that," Derek eventually spoke, "I'm sorry," he said sincerely.

Meredith bit at her lip; she hadn't exactly been expecting an apology. She was silent for a moment before she looked up.

"You're sorry?" she asked. His piercing blue eyes were glued to her and she could tell that his words were genuine.

"I am. I should never have said any of the things I did," he continued honestly.

Meredith looked away. His gaze was too intense.

"You were very quick to judge." Her voice was quiet and she continued to avoid eye contact.

"I know and I was obviously wrong about you," Derek spoke. She looked small sitting beside such tall rows of shelves, fragile even and it only made him feel worse about treating her the way he had.

Meredith nodded her head slightly and looked up, "You were." Her voice was barely above a whisper and she could feel her throat burn as she pulled back tears. She wasn't going to cry. Not here and certainly not in front of Derek.

Derek felt his stomach drop a little. He didn't even know her and yet, he could see the pain in her eyes. There was obviously a lot more to Meredith than he had originally assumed and despite very temporarily giving up on the idea, he wanted to know all there was to Meredith.

"I was," he repeated. His hands had found their way into the pockets of his jeans as he stood an awkward distance away from her.

Meredith bit down on her bottom lip again, unsure of what she was supposed to say in a situation like this. Derek did look like he was sorry, he really did and against all logic, she believed him.

"I forgive you," she said softly.

Derek looked somewhat surprised, though that surprise quickly turned into a small smile.

"Good," he answered after a few moments. "Because I'm an excellent friend."

Meredith felt the corners of her lips curve upwards, "You want to be friends?"

"I do."

Meredith wasn't sure what is what that made her feel butterflies when Derek smiled at her and she wasn't sure why the idea of being friends sounded so appealing, but for whatever reason it did.

"And you know what I do for my friends?" he asked her, his smile had at some point turned into a goofy looking grin and Meredith couldn't help but return it.

"What do you do?" She closed the book in front of her and gave Derek her full attention.

"I buy them coffee."

Meredith's eyebrows raised and she crossed her arms in front of her, leaning her weight forward on her chair.

"You buy your friends coffee?" she responded before pressing her lips together and tilting her head to the side.

There was the girl that Derek had found so endearing days before and he hoped she would be sticking around.

"See, I told you. I'm an excellent friend."


End file.
